w'ur holiday ~ Bristol part 1

We are home from a wonderful, very full and exciting 2 weeks holiday in the UK.

We had so much fun and did so much and although I didn't think I took many pictures at all, I am going to split the trip into 2 or 3 posts...as it seems I still have plenty of pictures to share :-)

 We arrived on Thursday and took a few days to rest, revive and get our hair cut (well, Rebe and I did). On Saturday my mum was taking part in the Bristol Water Aid, Sing for Water. Which meant she was at rehearsal in the morning. So my dad and I took the kids to Bristol Museum where we had a lot of fun. But it was especially nice to be doing something with my dad.

 All around Bristol there are Gromits to be found, we really enjoyed searching them out and they were a special and memorable part of our being in Bristol this year. We found this one at the museum and much to Benny's utter delight we also found...

 a stuffed armadillo!

 The Water Aid concert was amazing, there was a choir of 1000 people singing a mixture of songs outdoors. As well as the beautiful music there was also this wonderful game of 'poopla' that the kids really enjoyed. The idea was, for a donation, to throw a rubber jobby (a poo for those of you non-scots) into a toilet. It was hilarious and Joa still talks about this as 'what he did on his holiday'.

 A few days later we went on a 'pirate walk' with this here old sea dog 'Salty Sam'. Bristol was a hot bed for pirates in the 16th century and there are such great stories to be heard.

 We discovered that there are over 3 miles of caves under Bristol where pirates, including the famous Black Beard, used to hide his stolen booty.

 The children (and my mum and I) were so captivated by these stories, another awesome day!

 The day after that we set off on our travels to Eastbourne to see my best friend and her family. The trip by train to Eastbourne through London was an adventure in itself.

 We found 2 more Gromit's at the train station

 our train

 This was Joa's first time ever on a train. The kids were brilliant travelers, so well behaved and enjoying all the new sights and sounds.

At London Paddington we had a few jobs to do...finding another Gromit and also of course dear old Paddington himself.
Then we managed to negotiate the underground train from Paddington to Victoria. I had taken the precaution of writing my mobile phone number in permanent marker on the kids' arms before we left, but it was still pretty stressful going down the escalator and through barriers and onto the right train.
But we did it and arrived happily in Eastbourne.
To be continued....